Introducing UAlbany's Information Science PhD Program Director: 5Qs with Elyse Zavar

By Mike Nolan

ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 16, 2026) — The University at Albany's College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) has a new face leading its Information Science PhD Program.

Elyse Zavar joined CEHC this fall as the director of the Information Science PhD Program and as an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. She will also conduct research in the college's Disaster Studies Lab.

Zavar's research focuses on how communities recover from disasters over the long term, especially through publicly funded programs that buy out flood-prone homes and relocate residents away from climate risk.

Since 2011, she's visited thousands of acquired properties across the country, studying how communities repurpose that land and how residents experience the buyout process. She's especially interested in how communities commemorate past loss and relocation, a question she brought to Australia and Fiji as a 2025 Fulbright Scholar.

We caught up with Zavar to learn more about her background and her vision for the Information Science PhD Program at UAlbany.

How did you get into disaster science and what brought you to UAlbany?

I was a master's student at the University of California, and while I was enjoying my classes and the research I was doing, it wasn't the right fit for me. By complete accident, I applied for an emergency manager internship, and it was absolutely the right fit. That's led to a career focused on disaster science, and those interests are what attracted me to UAlbany.

Tell us more about your research on buyout programs. 

My research focuses on how disasters reshape communities. One of the things that started to happen in these communities was buyout programs, where the government takes land that had once been zoned safe and decides people should no longer live there because of the high risk for flooding. I put together a list of over 110 communities that had done a buyout program, and we visited those sites to get answers as to how that buyout land is managed today. 

What excites you about UAlbany's Information Science PhD Program?

The students here are incredibly driven. They're coming from all over the world to work with a faculty that also comes from all over the world, trying to discover new ways our communities can prevent threats and risks from interrupting our daily lives.

What can we expect from your work in UAlbany's Disaster Studies Lab?

The lab is growing, not only in terms of faculty but also space. We'll also have an additional presence around how land use, land management, and sense of place and place attachment contribute to communities preparing for, recovering from, and mitigating hazards.

What projects are you working on currently?

We're exploring how environmental services can be derived from buyout open space, and we're looking at how communities across Oceania have adapted and modified their way of life. The hope is that by understanding an international perspective, we can better build how communities implement these relocation programs, so we're better prepared to face challenges due to climate change.